We Seemed Like a Good Idea
by catmig
Summary: AU: "When we remember, by definition, we are putting things back together." It seemed so harmless, but she was never more wrong. Brittany remembers and reflects back on the tumultuous two year relationship that her and her best friend, turned friends with benefits, were a part of that led to heartbreak, confusion, pain, and living a chaotic life in Chicago by herself.
1. Battlefield

**Author's Note: So I had a shitty situation happen to me over the last two years that involved an intense friendship that turned into more than friends and that led to disaster. I have really wrestled with a lot of it and I thought that writing about some of those events and maybe hashing it out through the Brittana-universe might be helpful. So we'll see. Hopefully more people will wanna go on this little journey with me. Most of this is AU, but I'll be including a lot of Glee characters, just not using them as they are on the show. But we'll see where this fic takes me. **

**So the big italics parts are flashbacks and the flashbacks are not in chronological order as they appear.**

** Enjoy!**

_It's easy to fall in love_  
_But it's so hard to break somebody's heart_  
_What seemed like a good idea has turned into a battlefield_  
_Once lust has turned to dust and all that's left's held breath_  
_Forgotten who we first met_  
_What seemed like a good idea has turned into a battlefield_

People always say that the past should just stay in the past. It's a hell of a lot easier to move on from something when the past stays far far away. Out of sight out of mind. Any other cliche about moving on you could think of. And wouldn't that be perfect? Wouldn't that be nice if that is how life worked? How convenient would that be: if every single action we made, every single word we spoke, did not come back to haunt us in our present lives. If every single sad break up song didn't make you so very aware of every little crack in your heart currently. Every "what if" doesn't eventually rear its ugly head. Every sound of laughter, touches, stolen glances, winks doesn't creep it's way back into your memory. It all has a way of sneaking right into the present. The past _should_ stay in the past. See, by definition, the word "remember" is the opposite of "dismember". When we dismember something, we tear it apart, piece by piece. But when we remember: we are putting things together, putting things back in place. So even though we want to bury our past lives deep in some closet in outer space, sometimes when we remember it's a way of putting things back together.

When your past, and the choices and decisions you made, is what brought you to where you are today…should you really keep it that far away and ignore it? Or should you look at it and remember it...putting everything back together to its rightful place?

/

Brittany could reach into her pocket and hit next on her iPod. That's what she should do. But her iPod is in her winter coat pocket and she has her heavy gloves on: it's too much effort. Sure, that's a good excuse to listen to yet another sad song and getting lost in her thoughts.  
She's sitting on the L on her way back to her apartment after class. Brittany has lived in Chicago for six months and it feels like the most she's done is memorize the red line stops on her daily commute. Between graduate school classes, her internship, and her job at the dance studio that helps her pay her rent- her life is pretty much spent going from one job to another on public transit. Brittany likes her time on the L though. It's her chance to do her favorite activity (outside of dance): people watch. She also gets to re-energize and zone out, playing her iPod and drifting off in her head. On the train she doesn't think about grad school, her dance class lesson, or work to do for her internship at the agency.  
Every now and then her iPod fails her and will go to one of the many sad songs on her playlists and her mind will drift somewhere very specific. Someone very specific. Instead of hitting next, Brittany leans her head against the window, looking at the city as it passes her by, and lets her mind stay on that someone for a while.

"This is Sheridan." The voice muffled through her headphones announces; Brittany jumps up from her seat and waits for the train doors to open. It's February in Chicago and absolutely freezing. Before she moved here she had only visited the city in the spring time and the summer. It was absolutely gorgeous then. Despite everyone's warnings about the brutal Chicago winters, she never really expected it to be _this_ cold. The doors open and immediately she is hit with the chill. She shoves her hands into her pockets and dips her head down to nuzzle her face into her scarf for extra warmth.  
It's 6 p.m. and all Brittany can think of, as she takes hurried long strides from the train stop to her apartment, is how excited she is to change into sweatpants and watch Netflix before passing out. It's moments and thoughts like this that Brittany has to remind herself that she is actually 24 years old, and not 42 years old. It's a Friday night for God's sake. But her legs are tired and her brain feels like mush after a long class discussion on mental illness. She wants chips and sweats and a sad movie. Oh, and some tea. That sounds like heaven. A flash of a thought crosses her mind and she wonders what that someone she was thinking about on the train is doing this weekend. _Probably something fun. Probably out with friends, like a normal 24 year old. _

As she approaches her block, yet another sad song comes on her iPod. Brittany inhales sharply, from the cold, and the melancholy sound of the piano notes. She hurries up the steps and pulls out her keys, fumbling with them due to her gloves. She eventually gets inside the warm building and is very grateful that she lives on the ground floor. Once in her apartment she kicks off her boots and throws her keys on a nearby table.  
All of the lights are off, and she quickly figures that none of her roommates are home. As she makes her way to her small bedroom down the long hallway, she begins to shed her many layers of scarves, hat, and extra sweaters. When she gets to the confines of her own room, she closes the door and collapses on the bed. The music is still playing through her headphones, and she lets the exhaustion wash over her body

/

"_Please…Please just…I can't lose you in my life. You don't know what you mean to me," Brittany begged in the receiver of her cell phone. Tears running down her phone face, and her nose becoming runny._

"_You're not. You're not losing me. I'm your friend." The voice on the other end says quietly, calmly._

"_You know that's not what I mean," Brittany finds the strength to say. Her voice still restricted through sobs._

_/_

Brittany rolls over and unlocks her cell phone. She opens up the Facebook app and types up a familiar name in the search section. It's almost like her fingers are on autopilot as they type and click the familiar buttons. A face that Brittany knows all too well pops up in the profile picture. There's a new picture that has been uploaded that day, one face sticks out among the familiar group of friends, all happy. Brittany stares at the one face in the middle, trying to commit every feature and detail to memory.

/

_Hands are entwined with hers, pulling her up the stairs. A huge smile is spread across Brittany's lips as she is frantically being pulled. Once at the top of the staircase she is turned around and pushed into the hallway wall, another pair of lips instantly connected to hers. Hands are on her waist pulling her further into the other body. Brittany wraps her arms around the other girl's neck, never breaking contact._

"_Mmm" Brittany manages to get out in between kisses. A tongue pushes against her lips and she immediately grants access. She is backed up down the hall and pushed into her bedroom, the other kisser not even bothering to close the door behind them. _

"_Your friends are right downstairs," Brittany manages to get out as she is seated at the edge of her bed. A smile is still plastered on her face despite the nervousness of being caught running through her body. _

"_So?" The other girl in the room is now in Brittany's lap, straddling her, and their lips are back on each other's, hands roaming each others bodies. As the kiss continues, Brittany wonders if she will ever stop smiling like this._

_/_

Deep breaths in. Deep breaths out.

Brittany closes out of Facebook on her phone and throws the device down on her bed. There is a familiar ache in her chest and stomach. She raises her hand from her side and that familiar shaky feeling is there. She looks closely at her hands to see if they are actually shaking. When she notices a small tremor she closes them into fists several times to make them stop.

/

"_So…" Brittany draws out, as her eyes go between the drink in front of her and to the girl across from her at the table. Brittany is nervously wringing her napkin to preoccupy her shaky hands, and possibly dry them from the inevitable sweat that is seeping from them. "What's new?" Her voice comes out more nervous than she intended._

"_Nothing really," The response from the other girl is short, disinterested. There's an ache in Brittany's stomach, and when she releases her intense grip on her napkin, she can feel them shaking slightly in her lap. Silence hits the table, and Brittany goes back to staring at the drink in front of her wracking her brain to think of a question, a sentence, anything. Anything to prevent her from losing her grip on this. But she can't. So, instead, she grips as tightly as she can to her napkin again._

_/_

Brittany's stomach rumbles and she knows she should make herself something to eat. But she's tired and cooking a whole meal for herself seems silly. Instead she rolls over again and closes her heavy eyes.

/

_Brittany's stomach hurts from laughing so much. The girl across from her is talking a mile a minute, telling a story about her childhood. The girl's eyes light up and her hands are flying animatedly through the air as she speaks. Brittany isn't even sure what the point of the story is, but both girls are so caught up in their laughter that it doesn't matter. All she was is to spend forever hearing every single story from the girl in front of her, and hearing the sounds of their laughter mixed together. _

_/_

Brittany reaches for her phone again and opens up her texts. The last message she received was from one of her roommates a few days ago, asking about the broken dishwasher. She opens her recent calls and sees that the only person she has called in a month has been her mom. Pathetic.

/

"_The funniest thing happened at the school today," Brittany rattles on to the voice on the other end of the phone. She waits for a response before she continues. A few beats pass before she finally gets a distracted response._

"_What?" The voice is disinterested. Brittany sighs, frustrated, expecting more excitement. _

"_Well, if you don't want to hear it…" Brittany trails off, annoyed._

"_Brittany." The name is stated so forcefully that it makes Brittany's chest hurt. "Obviously I care. Am I not on the phone with you? Did I not call you today after you told me you wanted to talk? So, yes I care." The sentences are said out of annoyance, and frustration. Brittany can feel her own anger rise._

"_Well, you just sound-" She can't get her sentence out, before she is cut off._

"_How do I sound? I'm listening. Just tell the story already," there is a loud sigh on the other end of the phone. And Brittany wonders how this is what has become of their conversations, and she can't even remember the story she wanted to tell anymore._

"_Forget it," she says dejectedly._

"_Fine," the other voice responds, distracted again. "Look, I gotta go. I'll talk to you later." _

"_Oh, okay…love you." Brittany lets out hopefully, almost pleadingly. _

"_Bye." _

_Brittany sees the call is disconnected and she squeezes her phone in her hand before throwing it across the room angrily._

_/_

Brittany finally sits up in her bed and decides to change into her sweatpants, something that she has been craving for hours. She pulls her large purple NYU sweatshirt over her head, and her old dance camp sweatpants, feeling extra warm and comfy. She walks out of her bedroom and right into the kitchen; conveniently located right outside of her bedroom. She still doesn't feel like actually cooking something, so she grabs a bag of chips and some salsa, which she pours into a bowl and goes down the hallway toward the living room. She pulls a blanket over her lap, opens up her iPad and thinks about what she wants to watch on Netflix. She cuddles into a pillow next to her, pulling the blankets up as far as they can go to warm herself up.

/

"_Your feet are cold," Brittany giggles, and the arms around her waist pull her further into them. _

"_So are yours," the girl's voice from behind Brittany whispers into her ear and nuzzles into her neck. Their legs are intertwined under the blankets. The girl's arms tighten around Brittany and she feels small kisses on her neck. One of the hands wrapped around her waist creeps up slowly up her shirt, sending a shiver down Brittany's spine. The girl's hand rubs small circles on Brittany's skin, just above her hip bone. "Good thing we can warm each other up, right?" The voice husks into Brittany's ear. Brittany squeezes one of the arms around her waist and leans back impossibly closer to the girl behind her. _

_Brittany sighs, and closes her eyes, feeling that in that moment this is what people mean when they say they are in love. This is that feeling she had been missing out on for all these years. She thought it was some impossible, unreachable goal. But really, it was so easy to fall in love. Especially, with the girl who was holding her so tightly and protectively. _

_/_

Brittany rolls over on her side, not really paying attention to the Breaking Bad episode she decided to watch. She thought that she would watch a romantic comedy, but right now she wants to watch people kill each other, and do meth. That's what kind of mood she ended up in. Before she knew it the exhaustion of the day finally was taking over and she was drifting off to sleep; a bag of chips on the ground next to her, an iPad in her lap, and hugging a pillow to her as tightly as she could.

/

_The car ride into the city was quiet. Other than a hug outside of the airport, after Brittany had loaded the other girl's car (which seemed pretty forced to Brittany) there hadn't been much talking in the car. The other girl was driving, and focusing on the roads, not looking in Brittany's direction at all. Meanwhile, Brittany was looking out the window. It was raining and completely grey outside. In the distance she could see bits and pieces of the New York skyline from the turnpike, through the clouds and rain. She felt like she was going to be sick. A few times on the drive she wanted to ask the girl driving to pull over so she could throw up. Instead, she just took deep breaths and looked out the window. 'At least she picked you up from the airport.' Brittany thought to herself, wistfully.  
The other girl switched the radio stations and quietly sung along. Brittany glanced back over at her. Everything in her body hurt, just looking at her. She wondered if the other girl was hurting. The other girl seemed so happy, so confident. Brittany quickly realized that the other girl was definitely not hurting as much as she was. She went to go back to looking out her window when her thoughts were interrupted, "So excited to be home for the summer?"_

"_Yeah," Brittany said quietly, trying to pick her words carefully. "It'll be nice to see some people before I move to Chicago."_

"_Cool," the other girl said, while nodding. Brittany wasn't sure what she wanted the other girl to say. But she wanted something more than cool. She wanted more than a forced hug at the airport. She wanted anything more than awkward silence in the car. But she wouldn't say that. Instead she let the realization hit her, like a ton of bricks: that this is what they had become. This is what it would be like between the two of them now. _

"_Yeah, cool," Brittany couldn't help herself from scoffing ever so slightly. She knew the other girl had noticed, but didn't care anymore. She leaned her head against the glass, as the rain trickled down the outside. She closed her eyes and felt a tight compressed pain in her chest. She wanted to open the window and throw up. Sweat was dripping from her hands, and she thought that she was going to start sobbing right on the spot, because it was hard for her to swallow due to the tightening in her chest and throat. _

_She took a deep breath in and wondered if this is what a break up felt like. Sure, there never was nothing official to break up from, but it definitely felt like something inside of her was breaking, shattering, to bits and pieces. She looked over at the other girl again, eyes on the road, smiling with her dimples at the upbeat song on the radio. Her chest tightened, and she knew, this was what getting her heart broken felt like. Right in this moment. This is what losing everything you ever cared about feels like._

_/_

_Buzz. Buzz. Buzz._

Brittany sat up at the sound of the buzzing. She looked around her, confused for a second about her surroundings, and the light streaming in through the windows. She fell asleep on the couch and it was now sometime during the next day. She looked around for her phone and realized that she left it in her bedroom at some point.

_Buzz. Buzz. Buzz._

The sound was coming from the intercom. Usually it was her roommate's boyfriend that would be outside asking to be let in, or it was one of the neighbors who forgot the key. One time somebody buzzed for Brittany, but it was a Thai food delivery man, so she wasn't sure that entirely counted. Brittany rubbed her eyes, still trying to adjust to the light.

_Buzz. Buzz. Buzz._

Usually her roommate's boyfriend would have just called a cell phone by that point, or the neighbors would try a different buzzer. She wasn't even sure if her roommates were even back at this point. They would have at least woken her up when they came home at whatever time they got back. _Maybe they'll just go away._ But her thoughts were interrupted by yet another buzzing at the intercom. "Jesus Christ," Brittany muttered as she jumped up off the couch and went to go hit the intercom button forcefully. She went to go walk back to collect her blankets and go back to sleep in her bedroom and there was a quiet, gentle knocking at the door. Brittany turned around, surprised, but assuming one of her roommates had just forgotten their keys. She walked back toward the door, pulled the hood up on her sweatshirt to cover her bedhead, and unlocked the deadbolt, swinging the door open. Brittany's breathing stopped, and she could feel her heartbeat in every single one of her pulse points. She stared at the sight in front of her: a girl with a tan skinned Latina, hair up in a ponytail, heavy winter jacket on, and clutching a small duffle bag.

/

"_Okay Britt, she should be here any minute," her friend said excitedly, as they sat in the New York Starbucks. "I think you two will really get along." Brittany just nodded, looking around the coffee shop, people watching the local New Yorkers. She was a little nervous, as she was meeting her future roommate today. It felt like a blind date, since her friend was orchestrating the whole thing, and the thought of that made Brittany laugh a little to herself. Brittany and her friend needed another roommate for their loft, and her friend found someone through her school. Brittany trusted her friend, so she knew she shouldn't be nervous, but she still was. People watching had always calmed her down, so she just looked around at the people reading, talking on their cell phones, and a pair of old friends at a table catching up with each other. "Oh, Britt!" Her friend exclaimed, snapping her from her people watching. "She just walked in!" Brittany turned her head from her friend and saw a short Latina girl, with long hair, wearing a v-neck and jeans stroll into the Starbucks. Brittany stood up and wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans hurriedly. The Latina girl approached the table once she spotted Brittany's friend and the two hugged briefly. Their mutual friend then stepped aside, and Brittany held out her friend._

"_Hey, I'm Brittany," she said politely, holding out her hand._

"_Hey," the Latina took her hand and smiled warmly at her. Her dimples showing as she smiled. "I'm Santana."_

_/_

Brittany continued to stare at the girl in front of her. A familiar feeling of nausea seeped into her stomach, and she briefly thought she was going to throw up right on the spot. The other girl held her gaze though, and the two just stared at each other. Brittany inhaled sharply, realizing she had forgotten to breathe after she opened the door. The two continued to stare at each other, and Brittany was unsure of how long they had been standing at her doorway. Finally, just above a whisper, she was able to get out one word.

"Santana?"

**let me know what you think! Next chapter we're going back to the start to when these two crazy kids first meet!**


	2. The Scientist

**Wow! Thanks everyone for all the follows/faves, PMs, etc. It means so much to me. This chapter is the beginning of their friendship. It's not too exciting, but I had to set the scene for Santana moving in.**

**Please send any constructive criticism my way. I'd love to hear your thoughts! **

**Enjoy!**

_Oh take me back to the start…_

2 and a half years earlier…

August 2011

Brittany and her high school best friend, Rachel, were walking together, arm in arm, down the crowded New York City streets on a gorgeous summer day. Brittany and Rachel had moved in together into a loft in Brooklyn starting their senior year. However, once their third roommate, Kurt, got an increase in his income and decided to move out; the two girls were left to their own defenses trying to find someone to take over. Brittany, Rachel, and Kurt all went to the same high school and were all close friends. When they all decided to go to college in New York they were thrilled that they could hang out all the time. Of course it wasn't always that easy. Kurt and Rachel both went to NYADA, but had different groups of friends and interests so they didn't always see each other all the time. Meanwhile, Brittany went to school at NYU where she was studying Sociology, but always finding time to dance on the side. Brittany met an entirely different cast of characters at school, and loved every minute of it, becoming quite the social butterfly. Despite their differing schedules, and different friend groups, the trio always made time for each other. Brittany would always invite Kurt and Rachel to NYU parties and vice versa. They made friends with each other's school friends, and supported each other through four years of crazy college life.

After three years of dorm life and weird roommate experiences, the three decided to all move in together. Brooklyn wasn't exactly ideal for any of them, given the distance from their schools, but it was a trendy neighborhood and cheap. They all were already really close, and were worried that living together might ruin their friendship. The opposite was true. They ended up getting even closer than they started. When they all graduated from their respective programs there was a fear of what the future would bring. Rachel was going to be definitely staying in the city to pursue her Broadway dreams, Kurt wanted to stay as well, but wasn't sure what field he would be getting into, and Brittany was the wild card. She loved New York, but still wanted to see the rest of the world. She also wasn't sure what exactly she wanted to do with her life. She majored in Sociology and loved her classes so much, but she wasn't sure what she could exactly do with her degree. When graduation rolled around, she decided she would take a year off, working at dance studios and restaurants to make ends meet, and then decide what she actually wanted to do with her life. Towards the end of the summer Kurt decided that, although he loved his lady friends to death, he wanted to find his own place and get some privacy for a change. This decision may or may not have something to do with the fiftieth conversation on menstrual cycles that he had to sit through. Even though he is gay, he did think that even he had his limits on female conversation topics.

That has led the girls to this: finding a new roommate. It took a lot of time and energy from both Brittany and Rachel to check with all of their respective friends from college and co-workers on if anyone was looking for a place. Finally, Rachel received an email from a girl in one of her classes at NYADA that she had gotten to know a little bit over the last few years. Rachel spoke highly of her talent, which says something coming from Rachel, so Brittany agreed to meet her and see if she would be cool with having her replace Kurt. Brittany was pretty desperate to find someone at this point, so she didn't fully care. She always managed to get along with anyone she met anyway, but she also knew that she, Kurt, and Rachel had had a great dynamic and that this new situation would be completely different. She also knew some of Kurt and Rachel's classmates, and while she thought they all were nice enough, and enjoyed the company of several of them, they were a different breed of weird. However, the way that Rachel went on about this girl that they were meeting was different. She didn't seem like a stereotypical NYADA student, and, once again, Brittany and Rachel were getting pretty desperate at this point. As long as she wasn't the Craigslist killer, Brittany would be happy.

"So which Starbucks are we meeting at?" Brittany asked as Rachel led them down another street, still arm and arm.

"The one on Columbus," Rachel said as she looked both ways before crossing the street. They were jaywalking, but both girls quickly discovered that that was what real New Yorkers did.

"There's like 5 on Columbus," Brittany said rolling her eyes. Rachel just sighed and pulled her down Columbus. They passed three different Starbucks' as they walked down the street and Brittany was amusing herself as they passed each one asking "Is this the one?" "What about this one?" Rachel just rolled her eyes each time, but did manage to chuckle whenever they passed a Starbucks, finding the stereotype of a Starbucks on every corner in Manhattan quite true.

Finally, they arrived at their destination and they found a table in the corner of the coffee shop. "Why did we have to come all the way to Manhattan anyway?" Brittany asked as she sat at the table, and Rachel took a seat across from.

"You certainly are whiney today," Rachel commented as she pulled out her phone from her purse. Brittany went to defend herself, but Rachel continued. "We're early. She said she'd be here at 1:30; we have a few minutes to kill. Do you want something to drink?"

"Are you buying?" Brittany asked raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah, what do you want?" Rachel said, standing up and grabbing her wallet from her purse.

"My usual," Brittany said smiling. Rachel laughed a little bit as she started to walk away. "And I'm not whiney!" Brittany called after her.

"Now you're not!" Rachel called over her shoulder, as she headed to the register. Brittany laughed, and pulled her phone out of her pocket looking through her different Facebook and Twitter feeds idly. A few minutes later her venti iced latte was placed in front of her, and she instantly smiled and took it into her hands happily.

"Thanks Rachel, you're the best," she said taking a sip and sighing in content.

"I know," Rachel laughed, and took her seat again. A comfortable silence fell over the pair. That was the thing with being friends with someone as long as they had. They didn't need to always be making small chat. Rachel was quite the talker, and Brittany was really sociable, but when they were together they didn't always feel the need to talk nonstop. "Kurt just texted me," Rachel looked up from her phone and showed it to Brittany.

**Kurt: **Are my fav ladies still up for going to that new beer garden this weekend?

"Yes!" Brittany exclaimed when she read it. Rachel took her phone back and texted the reply. "I miss Kurt," Brittany said with a pout.

"We just had him over for dinner two nights ago," Rachel laughed.

"I know, but it's not the same," Brittany sighed, and Rachel nodded in agreement. "New-Kurt better be cool with us talking about him all the time and still having him all the time."

"Maybe you shouldn't call her 'New-Kurt'. That might help the situation a little bit," Rachel said with a smile and taking a sip of her drink.

"She's got big, flamboyant shoes to fill," Brittany responded. "Just saying." Rachel chuckled a little bit, and went back to her phone. Brittany put her phone down and looked out the window, at all the people walking on the street. There were all kinds of people out today since it was such a beautiful summer day.

"Okay Britt, she should be here any minute," Rachel said excitedly. "I think you two will really get along." Brittany just nodded, looking around the coffee shop, people watching the local New Yorkers. She was a little nervous, for some reason. It felt like a blind date, a weird, Rachel-orchestrated third wheel date. People watching had always calmed Brittany down, so she just looked around at the people reading, talking on their cell phones, and a pair of old friends at a table catching up with each other. "Oh, Britt!" Rachel exclaimed, snapping her from her people watching, and Rachel turning to face the door. "She just walked in!" Brittany turned her head from her friend and saw a short Latina girl, with long hair, wearing a v-neck and jeans stroll into the Starbucks. Brittany stood up and wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans hurriedly. The Latina girl approached the table once she spotted Rachel and the two hugged briefly, saying a quick hi to each other. Rachel then stepped aside, and Brittany held out her hand to the other girl.

"Hey, I'm Brittany," she said politely, holding out her hand.

"Hey," the Latina took her hand and smiled warmly at her. Her dimples showing as she smiled. "I'm Santana."

"Super nice to meet you!" Brittany said with a smile back. _Super nice? Who says that? Great first impression._ Rachel rolled her eyes a little bit, used to Brittany's tendencies to say weird things at weird times. Santana just laughed and smiled at Brittany.

"Super nice to meet you too," She laughed. "Rachel has told me a lot about you." Brittany immediately shot Rachel a look, and she just shrugged in return. The three then took their seats. Brittany, now a lot less nervous, took a moment to take in Santana. She was really pretty. Her skin had the dark complexion, but she also had a little bit of a summer glow. She was just wearing jeans and a v-neck, but she pulled it off effortlessly. She had warmth in her brown eyes that almost made them twinkle a little bit when she smiled. She also had dimples. Brittany always loved people with dimples; she thought it was the cutest thing in the world. Finally, Brittany realized she had probably been staring, and had no idea what Santana and Rachel were talking about so she tried to focus and see what they were talking about. "Yeah that class was killer for me too," Santana said nodding to Rachel. _Oh phew, just NYADA. _"So what do you do Brittany?" Santana asked turning her attention to Brittany.

"Uhmm," Brittany hesitated, not sure why the question caught her off guard. "Well, right now I'm just teaching some dance classes at a studio in Brooklyn."

"Rachel told me you danced! I'm jealous, I could probably use your help," she laughed.

"She's being modest," Rachel interjected. "You move a lot better than me, I'm sure." Brittany just laughed along.

"Well, if you ever need to, you can always come by my studio," Brittany went on. "I help Rachel out all the time." Rachel rolled her eyes in response.

"Not all the time," Rachel said quietly. Santana just laughed at the pair.

"Maybe I'll take you up on that," Santana said. "What kind of dance do you teach?"

"Little bit of everything," Brittany said, taking a sip of her latte. "Hip-hop, contemporary. Whatever they need me to do."

"Is that what you want to do?" Santana asked, genuinely interested. "Like, career wise?" Rachel raised her eyes at Brittany; knowing that she gets asked this question all the time and sometimes she just ignores the question all together, as she doesn't like to think too much about her future.

"Nah," Brittany shook her head. "Professional dancing is pretty killer on the body. Don't get me wrong I love dancing," Brittany added the last part quickly. "I just want something a little different for myself. Not sure what yet." Brittany shrugged. Santana nodded understanding.

"That's really cool though. No rush to figure your life out just yet," Santana smiled warmly at her. Brittany smiled back, a little shyly and could feel herself brighten up. She usually stressed out easily when thinking about her future, especially after she graduated. Usually, people wanted a definite answer with what exactly she was doing with her life. It was nice to meet someone who was understanding about it and not adding any additional pressure.

"So what do you do?" Brittany asked. Santana laughed a little bit and ran a hand through her hair.

"Still figuring that out as well," she said. "Currently just waitressing," she shrugged a little bit, and Rachel nodded sympathetically. "Hopefully going to get some performing gigs soon. We'll see. No rush to do much of anything."

"So you're a singer?" Brittany asked, and Rachel nodded.

"She's super good." Santana immediately blushed and fidgeted with her hands that were folded on the table.

"I don't suck," Santana laughed, but didn't add anything else.

"I'm sure you're great," Brittany added cheerily. "Rachel's praise doesn't come often," she laughed. Rachel just scoffed across the table.

"I just am honest with my criticism," she stated. "Anyway…" Rachel dragged out as she tried to change the subject. "Brittany and I are basically just looking for someone to take over the lease for our old roommate, Kurt." Brittany nodded along with Rachel, and Santana followed along. "We're pretty desperate, and I know you said you really needed a place as soon as possible, right?"

"Yeah," Santana nodded. "The current lease on my place is up this weekend, and I don't really want to have to move all of my stuff into my friend's place, while I'm couch surfing, to only have to move again." Brittany and Rachel nodded.

"Understandable," Brittany said while nodding a taking a long sip of her latte. She was never very good at logistical stuff, so she knew to just let Rachel take the lead on all of that.

"Well, I wanted Britt to meet you first, before I gave you a yes or anything," Rachel said. "But if you want to check the place out sometime tomorrow, before this weekend. That way you can see if you even like it."

"You'll love it," Brittany interjected, and Santana turned a smiled at her. "Not to brag, but our place is pretty awesome." Santana just smiled at her before Rachel got her attention again.

"It is," Rachel agreed. "But you should still take a look before you make a decision." Santana nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, that would be smart," She said with a small laugh. "I'm free tomorrow night after my shift, if that works for you guys?" Santana looked between Brittany and Rachel.

"I'll be at the theater," Rachel sighed. She was in an off-off Broadway production and they had a performance that night. Rachel wasn't exactly thrilled about the show, but she would take anything at this point. "But Britt, you're not working tomorrow, right?" Brittany's head shot up from her drink, and she swallowed quickly, shaking her head, coughing a little bit as she choked a bit on her latte. Santana laughed a little bit at the choke.

"No, I'm free," Brittany finally got out. "You can come by whenever." Brittany smiled at her and was a little bit excited. Santana was really easy to talk to, and she felt so relaxed around her, she couldn't help but feel relieved that she already was getting along with her future roommate. Well, possible future roommate.

"Great!" Santana said happily. "I'll stop by tomorrow then!"

The three sat there together for a little while longer, all making some small talk, and getting to know each other a little bit more. Rachel and Santana talked about some of their classmates that they both knew, finding out what everyone was up to since graduation. Brittany usually got easily bored with NYADA gossip, but Santana had funny little comments about a lot of the people, and it kept her really amused with the conversation. "Donkey Face, what a douche that guy was," she said at one point, causing both Rachel and Brittany to burst out laughing at the description. Eventually, they all decided to head out. Rachel gave Santana a big hug.

"I hope you like the place when you see it tomorrow," Rachel said excitedly. "I think you'd fit right in with me and Britt," she said glancing over to Brittany, who nodded along. Santana then opened her arms to Brittany for a hug, and Brittany gladly accepted giving her a small hug, immediately taking in just how nice Santana smelled. She never really noticed other people's scent before, but Santana smelled great. Suddenly realizing that was a little creepy she pulled back from the hug, and Santana smiled at her.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow Britt," she said pulling her purse over her shoulder. Brittany smiled at the fact that Santana started using her nickname already. She couldn't help but think that it sounded so natural coming from Santana's mouth.

"Definitely," Brittany responded. "I can't wait!" The trio pushed their chairs in and all headed outside. Santana started heading in the opposite direction of Brittany and Rachel and she waved to them as she turned around the corner.

"Soooo…" Rachel said, linking her arms with Brittany as they started to walk back to the subway. "How did you like 'New-Kurt'?" Brittany laughed at the name she used earlier. "Will she be able to fill his flamboyant shoes?"

"Never," Brittany stated and Rachel looked up a little confused. Brittany finally went on after a dramatic pause, "No one could pull off his style." Rachel laughed, and then Brittany continued. "I think she'd make a good New-Kurt."

/

The next night Brittany was lying on her couch watching an episode of Gilmore Girls, when her phone started ringing. She picked up her phone and smiled when she saw the name on the screen: **Santana**.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hey Brittany it's Santana."

"Hey there," Brittany answered happily.

"I think I'm outside your place."

"Oh, great!" Brittany jumped up from the couch and hit pause on the remote. "I'll buzz you in. We're on the 5th floor." She then went over to the intercom and hit the buzzer to let Santana in.

"Great, thanks. I'll see you in a bit!" Santana then hung up. Brittany turned around to look at the state of her apartment. Rachel made sure she cleaned everything up to make sure it was presentable before she left for the theater. Seeing everything looked tidy, she then ran a finger through her blonde hair to fix it up a bit. She then walked to her door and opened it up peering around the corner and waiting for the elevator to show up. She heard the ding a minute later and she stepped out of her apartment and leaned against the wall. Santana stepped out of the elevator and Brittany's breath hitched immediately. She had on a short black pencil skirt, and a black short sleeved blouse. Her legs were extremely toned, and the heels she was wearing accentuated the whole outfit. _Woah_. "Hey!" Santana exclaimed as she spotted Brittany and started walking towards her. Brittany cleared her throat and stood up straight.

"Hey!" Brittany smiled and gave Santana a quick hug, thankful that the Latina appeared to be a hugger as well. "Did you have a hot date or something?" Brittany asked, raising her eyebrows, giving Santana the once over when she pulled away. Santana laughed and ducked her head, a little embarrassed.

"I wish," she sighed, tucking some hair behind her ear. "No, just got off of work. Fancy restaurant." Brittany nodded her head and then invited her inside to the apartment, holding the door open for her.

"Fancy waitresses first, madam," she said jokingly as she held the door. Santana laughed and stepped inside the apartment.

"Oh my God!" Santana immediately exclaimed.

"Yeah, it's pretty nice."

"Is that Gilmore Girls?!" Santana responded. Brittany laughed; impressed that Santana could pick that out right away, and didn't even say anything about the large loft.

"It is, that is my exciting Thursday night date," Brittany said with a small laugh. Santana was beaming.

"That is like, my favorite show, you don't even understand." Santana was totally geeking out, and Brittany loved it. "I don't even need to see the rest of the place, I'm done," she laughed. Then turned to finally look at the large loft. Other than the kitchen, everything was huge. Rachel, Kurt, and Brittany lucked out and got a huge a two story loft. The second story was just two bedrooms, Brittany's and Kurt's now empty bedroom, and a tiny full bathroom. Downstairs was the living room, which was huge, a small kitchen, Rachel's bedroom, and another bathroom. Rachel had enough clothing and all around crap, that Brittany and Kurt didn't put up a fight at all and let her take the bigger downstairs bedroom. Brittany started to show Santana around, while Santana just took every little detail in.

"Obviously, we have a huge DVD collection," Brittany said motioning to the cabinet next to the TV. "Including, all seasons of Gilmore Girls," she added quickly and Santana excitedly smiled back at her. She then briefly showed her Rachel's space, and then headed upstairs to show her Kurt's room. "So this would be your room, and the bathroom is right down the hall." The hallway was small, just enough to get between the bathroom, and the two bedrooms, but it was still nice to have a little privacy upstairs. Brittany and Kurt used to enjoy their times on the second floor. The two headed into Kurt's old room, and Brittany felt a little sad, seeing it so empty. Santana walked in and looked around, while Brittany just leaned against the door frame. Santana walked to the window and noticed that it just looked out onto a brick wall. "Yeah," Brittany added noticing Santana's slight disappointment. "Not much of a view. But downstairs has a lot of windows with a nice street view. And my window has the fire escape." Santana turned around and nodded, smiling.

"Can I see your room?" Santana asked innocently, quirking an eyebrow. Brittany stood up straight, internally trying to figure out if she left any gross underwear lying out on the floor.

"Yeah, of course," she stammered out eventually, heading out down the hallway to her room, Santana closely behind. "It's a little messy."

"Judge free zone," Santana held her hands up defensively. Brittany opened up her door, and let out a sigh of relief, thankful it was a lot cleaner than she thought it was. She stepped inside and Santana looked around. "It's very you," Santana said quietly looking at the pictures on the wall, with different inspiring quotes, and pictures of her friends and family. Brittany put her hands inside her jean pockets and leaned against the wall, not knowing whether to say anything response so she just shrugged her shoulders. Santana then faced Brittany with a smile on her face. "This place is seriously amazing. I don't know why Rachel thought I should see it before I decided." Brittany laughed and nodded, knowing very well how lucky they were to nab a great apartment.

"You never know," she drawled out. "Me and Rach could be total psychos," she said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Oh, I'm sure," Santana nodded seriously. "You hide the bodies in the floor boards?" Brittany quickly played along.

"No, we grind them up Sweeney Todd style," Brittany deadpanned.

"Obviously, Rachel Berry lives here," Santana just nodded, still not breaking and laughing. "I shouldn't have even asked." The pair locked eyes and finally laughed. Brittany nodded towards the door and the pair left her bedroom and started to head downstairs.

"Do you want anything to eat or drink?" Brittany asked heading to the kitchen to grab herself a glass of water. Santana shook her head and leaned against the kitchen counter.

"I get too much free food at work," she responded as Brittany grabbed a glass from the cupboard and got some water from the tap. "So...not trying to be forward or anything," Brittany got nervous and swallowed her water, waiting for Santana to finish her sentence. The Latina was looking down at her hands, nervously. "But…" Santana still wasn't making eye contact. "Can I move in?" She blurted out quickly. Brittany had been holding her breath, and she quickly laughed.

"Jesus, I thought you were going to bring up murdering me or something," she said holding her hand over her heart, dramatically. "I thought that was obvious," she responded. "Yes, you can move in!" She said happily. Santana looked up from her hands and beamed and ran right into Brittany, pulling her into a tight hug.

"Thank you!" She said, still hugging Brittany. "I promise I'm not a murderer," she giggled, causing Brittany to laugh as well.

"Thank God for that," Brittany said still laughing. When they finally broke the hug, Santana smoothed out her skirt and blouse and then smiled at Brittany, so excited.

"I should probably let you get back to your Gilmore Girls date night," Santana laughed, nodding her head toward the TV in the living room. Brittany blushed a little, hoping her night didn't seem too pathetic.

"Well…I could always use a little company to commentate on the episode if you'd like," Brittany asked a little shyly, surprised by her boldness. Santana looked up, surprised, but with a huge smile on her face.

"Really?"

"Yeah, if you're not busy I have like two episodes left in season four," Brittany shrugged. Santana suddenly got really excited.

"Oh my God! I have to stay to watch Luke and Lorelai make out!" She said excitedly and started heading over to the couch. Brittany laughed, grabbed her glass of water. _This is really going to work out._

/

An episode and a half later of Gilmore Girls, Brittany and Santana were sitting on the couch, side by side with a blanket thrown over their laps. The two talked through each episode, both having seen each episode several times. Every now and then would make ridiculous comments about the outfits the characters were wearing, that would make Brittany break out into a fit of giggles. Santana then went on a solid twenty minute rant about how Rory Gilmore is the worst, which led to a heated debate between the two, but ended in them both laughing at each other. Brittany noticed that Santana was leaning into her side a little bit more, and Brittany glanced to the side to see that she was staring at the screen intently, as it was a serious scene. Brittany smiled a little bit at how serious Santana looked, and then sighed out, leaning further into the couch. She was really happy Santana was so comfortable around her already.

When the episode ended, Brittany grabbed the remote from the coffee table and turned the DVD player off. She then turned and smiled at Santana. "Man," Santana sighed out. "That episode never gets old." Brittany nodded, and Santana let out a yawn and stretched her arms over her head. "I should probably get going," she said while sliding out of the blanket and standing up, smoothing out her skirt once again.

"Yeah you gotta get packing," Brittany noted with a smirk on her face. Santana looked down and smirked back. Brittany stretched out her legs and stood up, walking with Santana to the door. Brittany had this funny, warm feeling in her stomach. Tonight had just been really great, and she couldn't wait for Santana to move in. "So I'll see you this weekend?" Santana smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, if it's cool with you and Rachel I'd like to move in Saturday?"

"Of course," Brittany responded happily. "Rachel and I were going to be meeting Kurt that night for drinks. We could turn it into a celebratory event!" She was suddenly really excited at the idea. Santana smiled at her and nodded her head.

"That'd be awesome," she stated. She then opened the door, before turning around and engulfing Brittany in another hug. "I'm really happy I get to be your new roommate," she whispered, while hugging her. Brittany felt a whole lot of warm fuzzies and squeezed Santana tighter.

"Me too."

Santana pulled back from the hug, "I'll text you and Rachel with details about this weekend."

"Sounds good. Have a good night!" Santana nodded and wished Brittany the same, smiling back at her, and then headed out to the hallway.

Brittany shut the door and smiled to herself looking around at the apartment, knowing immediately that she and Santana would become really good friends, and that this new living situation would work out for everyone involved.

**Thanks for everyone who's up for going on this journey with me. This will start off a little bit as a slow burn, but I promise once it gets going it will be a lot more fast paced. So I hope you stick with me. Thanks again for reading, reviewing, following, and anything else.**

**The title of this chapter and the lyric at the beginning is Coldplay's "The Scientist". If you like covers, check out Tyler Ward and Kina Grannis' cover, it's amazing.**


	3. Ways to Go

**A/N: Thank you all so much to all the people who have followed, favorited, read, PMed, the 3 reviewers who I PMed back. Seriously means the world to me.**

**So this chapter is more of an intro, getting to know them both...but there's some important info in here and a little bit of foreshadowing, so pay attention to some of the details.  
The title of the chapter is taken from Grouplove's "Ways to Go". Fun song, for a chapter with some fun, summery, happy moments.**

**Enjoy!**

_(Oh I got a little bit longer) I got a ways to go_

After everything was decided and finalized that Santana would move in with Rachel and Brittany, the week went by at a rapid speed. Santana stopped by to sign the lease and drop off her deposit and the first month's rent, and before anyone could believe it, it was Saturday morning and Santana was moving. It was a chaotic string of events, considering the apartment was on the 5th floor and there was only one elevator for the whole building. Santana had rented a U-Haul truck to move from her current place, and Brittany had wasted a solid twenty minutes when she first pulled out making jokes about Santana being a truck driver, and asking if she had a walkie talkie, and what _really_ goes down at truck stops. Rachel kept rolling her eyes, stifling laughs, while Santana played right along. They then got right to work, creating an assembly line of sorts with Brittany unloading the truck passing to Rachel, Rachel bringing whatever she could fit on a dolly to the elevator then Santana unloading everything into the apartment. Despite protests from Santana that she could do it on her own, Rachel and Brittany insisted on helping out their new roommate. Unfortunately, about halfway through the moving process, Rachel had to leave for another rehearsal. "That seems conveniently timed, Rach," Brittany sighed, take a long drink from her water bottle and wiping her sweaty brow. Rachel helped Brittany down from the back of the U-Haul.

"I told you I would have to leave!" Rachel got defensive, and took the water bottle from Brittany's hands, taking a long sip herself, wiping some sweat off her face as well. "I have to shower, I feel ridiculously gross."

"Yeah, it's 500 degrees in that truck," Brittany leans against the truck and lets out a heavy sigh. Rachel peers into the truck.

"Well, at least there's not a whole lot left?" She offers, with a hint of optimism. Brittany raises her eyebrows at her.

"All the heaviest shit is in the back." She replies tiredly, and then goes to stretch her arms across her chest. Rachel gives her a shoulder a little squeeze before turning to head into the apartment. Brittany then turns to face the truck again, puts her water bottle down and climbs back in. After a few minutes she has managed to put everything toward the back of the truck to be able to reach things from the street, to load onto the dolly. She then piled the dolly up and pushed it into the apartment and waited for the elevator. When it came down Rachel was inside, completely dressed up, with makeup on, and totally put together. "Jeez, that was quick," Brittany laughs as she switches places with Rachel in the elevator with all of Santana's stuff.

"I have my routine down," Rachel states matter of factly with a smile. "I'll see you tonight at the bar?"

"Yep, I already told Kurt that Santana's joining in and he changed the reservation."

"Great," Rachel then looks at Brittany sympathetically. "Sorry I have to leave, again."

"No you're not," Brittany laughs.

"True."

"Good luck at rehearsal!" She waves off Rachel as the doors to the elevator close. When she gets to the 5th floor she rolls the dolly toward her apartment and Santana swings the door open.

"Hey Britt!" She exclaims quickly helping Brittany. "I just was coming down to help you out." She helps Brittany take the items off of the dolly. "I figure I'll go down to the truck and help you out since Rachel left. The trucks gotta be almost empty, right?" She asks hopefully.

"Yeah, it should only be a few more trips. Did you get everything in your room so far?"

"Yeah," Santana nods, glancing up to her bedroom. "I still have to set everything up, but it's all in there." Brittany nods and gives her an assuring smile.

"Alrighties, let's get this done," Brittany stuck her fist out and Santana immediately bumped it.

"Let's do this."

About twenty minutes later the truck was officially empty and everything that Santana had was dumped in their apartment. They left the truck parked outside, and Santana would drive it back the next day since she had it for the whole weekend. The whole process wasn't as painful as they thought it would be after Rachel left, but the second they dropped the last load off both collapsed onto the couch. "Everything feels like jello," Brittany said exhaustedly. Santana just groaned in response, and Brittany felt her body melting into the couch next to her.

"I'm never forgiving Quinn for this," Santana finally said after a few seconds of the two sitting there in silence, letting exhaustion wash over them.

"Who's Quinn?" Brittany asked turning her head slightly to look at Santana who was rubbing her temple slightly.

"A friend from," she said. "She moved here from my hometown for college too." Santana then glanced over at Brittany. "I asked her to help, but she said she was busy," Santana had a hint of annoyance in her tone.

"Maybe she actually was busy?" Brittany offered and Santana just laughed.

"Oh, once you meet Quinn, you'll see why I don't believe that. She probably didn't want to break a nail." Brittany just nodded and was going to make a witty response when Santana's phone in her pocket started ringing. She pulled it out and Brittany could see _Mom_ flashing on the screen. "Better answer this." Santana stood up quickly and started walking toward the kitchen. "Hello? Yeah I got everything in…No, not yet." Brittany just lay out on the kitchen, trying not to eavesdrop too much. "No, Mom. No it's fine…" Brittany wasn't looking at Santana from the couch, but she could tell she was frustrated on the phone. "Yes, I will….I don't know…Okay…" Santana let out very loud exasperated sigh, and Brittany looked over the back of the couch at Santana and raised her eyebrows. Santana just shook her and rolled her eyes. She held the phone away from her face. "I swear, she calls and doesn't even need me to talk to have a conversation."

Brittany laughed, "Can she hear you?"

"Who knows? She's going on some rant about sheets," Santana sighed. She then put the phone back to her face. "Okay Mom, that's cool. I should get going though…No, you don't need to put Dad on. I'll call later…Okay…Bye…Yes, I will…Bye…No. I'll call later…Yeah. Bye." She quickly hung up and stuffed the phone in her pocket, while Brittany was laughing out loud at her. "What?"

"Does it normally take you 10 minutes to say bye to your parents?" she asked, still laughing slightly.

"You have no idea," Santana sighed frustrated again. "They are part of the reason that I live here, and not in Ohio."

"I forgot you're from Ohio too. Cincy, right?" Santana just nods, clearly on the same page as Brittany when it comes to the distaste for her home state. It's not that she hates it, she just always promised herself that she would never end up living in the state of Ohio forever. It was prime motivation for her to leave when she got into NYU. She looks at Santana thoughtfully, wondering if, maybe, she was running away and hiding out in the city as well; with some irrational fear that she would end up in Ohio for the rest of her life, working at a grocery store, never leaving.

"You alright there?" Santana asks, and snaps Brittany out of her thoughts.

"Yeah, spaced out," Brittany shot Santana a wide grin, as another thought came to her. "Why don't we take a break from all the heavy lifting and go for a walk?" Santana smiled at her, but looked a little skeptical.

"You mean replace exercise with more exercise?" She asked sarcastically. Brittany playfully shoved her shoulder.

"No..." Brittany drawled out, and then shot Santana an innocent, shy look. "There's a small park a block or so away, I want to show it to you. It's my de-stress place." Brittany looks at her hands, not making eye contact out of nervousness. "Then we can get a bite to eat on the way back," she continues.

"That sounds great, Britt," Santana replied with a large smile on her face.

/

On the way to the park the pair joked around a fair amount, playfully shoving each other, laughing at random things they saw around their neighborhood, and telling short little stories; still getting to know each other a little better. Brittany looked over at Santana on several occasions, taking in her appearance up close for the first time since their first encounter. As they walk the few blocks to the park she notices for the first time that she is a few inches taller than Santana. Something about the way Santana carries herself, and her confidence made her seem taller, but she uses the height to her advantage as she continues to playfully shove the other girl's shoulder; trying to make Santana walk into things or other pedestrians on the street.

After a short walk, they arrive at the park and Brittany immediately feels herself relax and takes a deep breath in, feeling happy. She can feel Santana staring at her but she doesn't care. This is her happy place. She loves city life, but there is something about grass, and trees, and bodies of water…it's all so perfect. She grabs Santana's arm and drags the girl to a small clearing of grass that looks over the pond, has a little bit of shade, but also some sunshine and sits down immediately. At first Santana just stares down at Brittany as she lays in the grass, stretching out. Brittany's eyes are closed, but she knows Santana hasn't sat down yet and she peeks her eyes open, squinting, because the sun is right in her vision, "What too much of a princess to lie in the grass?"

"What?" Santana scoffs, and immediately sits down next to Brittany. "I just wasn't sure what we were doing." Brittany puts a hand to her forehead to shade the sun out of her eyes and rolls her head to look at Santana, giving her a confused look. "Like if there was some type of park activity we were going to do," Santana continues trying to explain herself. "Like something we're supposed to do." Brittany continues to not answer, letting the Latina bury herself deeper in the awkward hole she is digging for herself. She just raises an eyebrow at Santana, a smile creeping to her face, until she can't take Santana's ramblings anymore.

"A park activity?" Brittany asks, clearly amused. Santana just rolls her eyes.

"You know what I mean."

"Do you know how a park works?" Brittany laughs. "You know there aren't rules…unless you were wanting to get naked or something, that's probably not allowed." Santana picks up a clump of grass she was playing with and throws it at Brittany's face.

"Smart ass," Santana sighs out, going back to picking at the grass. "I don't do parks. I don't know." Brittany decides to keep up with her smart ass ways though.

"How does one 'do parks', San?" Brittany asks, sitting up on her elbows, trying really hard to suppress a smile. She finally sees a smile sneak onto Santana's face.

"Shut up," Santana laughs. "Forget I said anything. Clearly I know nothing about parks."

"Clearly," Brittany laughs back. "I just thought we could lay out in the sun for a little bit. Enjoy the quiet." Just as she says quiet a large truck drives down the street honking at some cab several times.

"You were saying?" Santana says smugly, with a grin on her face. Brittany grabs a clump of grass and throws it at Santana.

"Smart ass."

They both lie in the grass for a little while in silence. Brittany just looks over at the pond, watching birds fly around, and a few ducks swimming around. She's not sure what Santana is looking at, but when she glances over at the Latina she sees her chest rise and fall slightly, and she wonders if Santana fell asleep. Just as she's about to close her own eyes Santana's head to turns to face her and brown eyes are staring right back into her blue ones. "Your eyes are super blue," Santana whispers with a smile on her face. For her life, people have always complimented Brittany about her eyes. She should be used to it, but it still makes her blush.

"Your eyes are super brown," she whispers back to Santana, who also blushes slightly. Brittany takes this time to poke Santana's cheek, and the Latina scrunches up her face, but smiles back at her. "So you sing?" She asks, curious to hear about Santana's time at NYADA and what kind of performer she is. After living with Kurt and Rachel, she feels like she knows all about that whole world. Santana looks back up at the sky and sighs a little bit. Immediately Brittany gets self-conscious, wondering if this is some topic she shouldn't be approaching with Santana. "I mean, I know Rachel said you did. I just wanted to know what type of music or whatever…" she trails off. Santana rolls her head back to Brittany and offers a smile of assurance.

"Oh, I know. Just get asked that a lot. It's like when people ask what your favorite movie is, you know?" Santana says, while she rolls over on her side to fully face Brittany. "There are too many good ones to pick from." Brittany looks over and smiles at her as she continues. "I like a little bit of everything," she looks down, and begins to absentmindedly pick grass, while Brittany twirls a dandelion between her fingers as she listens on. "I love to listen to hip hop, but I also love some indie bands, and old school boy bands."

"Obviously," Brittany adds.

"Obvi," Santana laughs. "And anything Beyonce has her hand in."

"Once again…"

"Obviously," Santana finishes for her right away, and they both grin at each other. "As for singing, it really depends. I love jazz, and some old school classics. Little Etta James, Tina Turner, Whitney. My voice works well for a lot of Amy Winehouse's stuff. Just depends," she shrugs at the end of her sentence. Brittany tries to imagine Santana singing an Amy Winehouse song, with her raspy voice, and she can hear it immediately.

"That's really cool," Brittany states. "I never was much of a singer."

"Psh," Santana scoffs. "Everyone can sing. You might not win a Grammy, but I'm sure you sing just fine." Brittany laughs at that a little bit. "Hell, I did some plays in high school, and you'd be surprised who ended up getting parts. People you'd never suspect to be able to sing." Brittany rolls over to face the brunette at that comment.

"You did plays?" She asks with a big smile on her face. "Well, hello there, Rachel Berry." Santana immediately shoves Brittany's arm causing the blonde to fall back on her back.

"Shut up, it was just two plays."

"That's two more than I ever did," Brittany fires back jokingly.

"Whatever, I kicked ass," Santana bragged and Brittany just giggled and sat back up, crossing her legs and stretching her arms over her head. Santana sits up with her, right away. "What about you and dancing?" Brittany rolled her eyes and looked over at Santana, who was quirking an eyebrow at her. "Hey, I answered my question," Santana stated, raising her hands defensively.

"Yeah, yeah…I know," Brittany went along, plucking another dandelion from the ground. "I don't know I dance to all kinds of music. Mostly hip hop, but I've done ballet and contemporary. I love all kinds of music though," she goes on, because talking about music really excites her more than she ever really lets on. "I just think music is so powerful, you know?" She looks up and makes eye contact with Santana who nods at her thoughtfully. "It can change and shift someone's entire mood. Like if I'm upset, I listen to sad music, and it'll keep me in that mood, but also give me all this strength. And if I listen to a song, that just clicks with how I'm feeling, it changes everything. I think that's so cool." Brittany realizes she's rambling and looks back at the dandelion in her hands and fiddles with it nervously.

"I totally get what you mean," Santana states quietly. Brittany glances up and Santana is looking off in the pond, something clearly on her mind, but she doesn't push the subject, she just watches the Latina and feels a warmth about this moment. She doesn't usually open up to people this easily, but everything has just come so natural, and it just feels right, and it makes her happy and glad that she knows this person in front of her now. "So what does dancing do for you?" Santana asks, looking back at Brittany, snapping her out of her daze about her newfound friend.

"Hmm…" Brittany has to think over her answer, because she doesn't really get asked that a whole lot. Dancing has just been second nature to her since she was a kid. There's never really been a reason to it. She thinks about how she feels when she dances, and her answer comes immediately. "It's just freeing," she states it as if Santana can read her mind exactly, but the Latina just looks at her, a bit confused. "I get in this trance whenever I dance, I'm just in my own world. Some people write, or paint, or sing songs to express their emotions; I dance." With that, clarity is washed over Santana's face: she gets it.

"But you don't want to do that as a career?"

"Nope," Brittany says quickly, and definitively. "It's fun, and it's who I am. But it's not really fulfilling," she pauses for a second, trying to think how to explain herself. "When I dance, it's personal. It's for me. But I want to do something with my life that helps other people, does that make sense?"

"Definitely!" Santana says, almost as if she's proud of Brittany, and Brittany can't help but grin at her, like she just planned out her whole life.

"Of course," Brittany sighs, the grin fading away. "I still haven't figured out how to do that yet. My major in undergrad was pretty random."

"What'd you major in?" Santana turns so that they are facing each other, cross legged.

"Sociology," Brittany says with a wide smile. Her major was random, and she couldn't exactly become a sociologist, but she loved her classes and classmates in her major. It made college so much more fun. In high school Brittany was never the star student. She wasn't stupid, but she wasn't the smartest in comparison to her friends, like Kurt and Rachel. But when she was in her sociology classes, she felt smart. Maybe it was because it was the first time she was actually interested in the subject matter.

"Hmm," Santana nodded. "I don't think I've ever taken a sociology class." Brittany immediately gasped, and jumped up a little out of excitement.

"Oh my God, they are the best," Brittany knew geeking out wasn't her best quality, but she couldn't help herself. "I took a whole class on cults my sophomore year," Santana's eyes widen and she looked interested. "It was seriously the coolest class I've ever taken. It made me really paranoid of everything though," Brittany laughed. "Then I took a whole class on sex," Santana quirked her eyebrow up at that. "Yeah, that was hilarious. We talked about some inappropriate shit, but it was great. I got to use the phrase 'orgasmic' in a paper, and look at porn videos," Santana laughed out loud, and Brittany started to giggle; remembering out loud to Santana about the time Rachel walked in on her watching porn and having to explain that it was for a paper.  
They both were rolling over laughing, tears in their eyes, as Brittany described Rachel's horrified reaction. When they got their breathing back to normal, Brittany continued. "I also took classes on racism and poverty…I loved every minute of it. It really opened my eyes to a lot of injustices out there. In one class we learned all about Native American reservations and that just fascinated me so much. It's so crazy the injustices those people face, but how powerful their culture is…" Brittany found herself getting heated quickly, as she remembered all of her readings about Native American life, and how badly they've been treated.  
She locked eyes with Santana and found a look of admiration on her face. "What?" Brittany quickly blushed, and became self-conscious, realizing she's been talking for way too long.

"Nothing," Santana quickly says. "I just think it's so awesome how passionate you are," causing Brittany to immediately blush. "You're just a genuinely nice person," Santana finishes.

"You're nice too," Brittany says with a sincere voice, leaning forward ever so slightly and putting her hand on Santana's, not even thinking twice about the action. Santana just smiles.

"To you I am," Santana removes her hand from underneath Brittany's and pats the top of it gently before going back to picking grass. "I'm pretty judgmental when it comes to other people."

"Everyone judges, it's human nature."

"Not everyone is a bitch though," Santana states without looking back up at Brittany. Brittany wants to protest and defend Santana, but she gets it. Some people are a bit more judgmental than others, and that can come across as bitchy. But there's no way that Santana could be a bitch, she hasn't seen a mean bone in the girl's body since meeting her.

"I guess," is all she can come up with to say in response, but she's not saying that she agrees or thinks Santana is a bitch, and judging by the ever so small smile that she sees on Santana's face: she knows Santana understands what she meant.

The two sit together closely, looking at the birds and ducks in the pond, neither saying anything just enjoying the peace and quiet. Then a loud growling noise comes from someone's stomach. "Was that yours or mine?" Santana asks a hint of embarrassment in her voice.

"I don't know, but I'm starving."

"Food time?" Santana jumps up from her spot, reaching a hand out to pull Brittany up, which she gladly accepts.

"Food time!"

/

The two walked out of the park, arms bumping into each other and giggling again. "So where we going?" Santana asks. Brittany thinks for a minute about what she's in the mood for and what would be a good place to introduce Santana too.

"Depends," Brittany drawls out. "You're not a vegetarian are you?" Brittany stops in her tracks, secretly hoping she doesn't have another meat hater on her hands.

"Oh God no," Santana responds with a look of horror on her face. Brittany breathes out a sigh of relief.

"Thank Jesus. Rachel kills me with that nonsense," she grabs Santana's arm and takes her down a street, knowing exactly where they're going to eat.

Walking a few minutes down the street and rounding one corner, they arrive at their destination, without Brittany telling Santana where they were going. They walk into a hole in the wall place that Brittany found a few months ago on her own. It was a small diner where they cook the most delicious burgers that Brittany has ever tasted right in front of you as you sit at the counter. Just by stepping into the diner Brittany's mouth waters. She pulls Santana to the counter and they slide onto stools next to each other. Brittany watches as Santana looks around at her surroundings skeptically.

"This will be the greatest burger you'll ever eat," Brittany quickly says to reassure Santana.

"Oh really, now?" Santana quirks an eyebrow. Brittany nods her head when the cook at the grill looks over at them and gives a head nod.

"2 cheeseburgers with onions and fries," Brittany spits out quickly. The cook nods and goes back to the grill. Brittany looks over at Santana and beams at her, so excited to share her little secret burger joint with her new friend. Her stomach begins to rumble again when she hears the sizzle from the grill a few feet away. "So did you have a lot of classes with Rachel at NYADA?" she asks to distract her from her hunger.

"Just a few."

"How was that?" There's a little laugh in her voice, because she knows exactly how it would be. She had enough classes with Rachel in high school to know just how annoying she can be. Judging by the groan Santana makes in response, she knows Santana agrees with her.

"The worst," Santana says with another groan. "She spoke more than the professors." Brittany nods knowingly and laughs to herself at memories of Rachel in high school and the amount of eye rolls she would receive from classmates of theirs. "How did you guys become friends anyway? You seem so different," Santana states.

"We are," Brittany laughs quietly. "Her and Kurt always had my back in high school. We all met in music class early on, and Kurt and I clicked instantly. I had a weird crush on him for a little while," she says, blushing a bit because now that fact is super embarrassing and Santana widens her eyes a little bit at this confession. "But, then he ended up being gay…so there went that." Santana laughs a little bit at that. "But he's still my best friend, I love him. And Rachel sorta came along with knowing Kurt. We all were the odd balls of our high school, and a little on the weird side, so hanging with them was like a judge free zone. We've all always being there for each other, no matter what." Brittany states; smiling at the fact that she has such strong friendships with Kurt and Rachel.

"I would have pegged you for miss popularity in high school," Santana says, nudging her a little bit with her elbow.

"Hell no," Brittany scoffs. "I've always been super quirky, so has Rachel. And Kurt is just a cute little unicorn," her face lights up thinking of her best friend. Santana looks at her at the mention mythical creatures, which she quickly notices, "It's a long story," she adds quickly.

"Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun."

"Oh for sure. But they both were also there for me when I had some family stuff going on in high school," Brittany adds, her tone turning more serious. "So it was nice to have them to rely on and help." Brittany isn't sure why she added that. She usually doesn't bring up her family issues to anyone. Most people look at her relationship with her family and assume that they are all extremely close, and perfect. After all, it's almost a thing of the past…almost. Santana looks over at her as she gets lost in her thoughts, but she doesn't question Brittany. Brittany is grateful that she isn't being pushed by the brunette to elaborate further.

"That's good that you had them, then. And it's even cooler that you're all still so close," Santana says looking up as their respective cheeseburgers and fries are placed in front of them. A huge grin spreads across both of their faces. "This looks delicious."

"Wait 'til you taste it…"

/

Brittany has completely devoured her burger in a matter of minutes and has moved on to her fries, but is completely stuffed. She smiles over at Santana every time she takes a bit from her burger and the Latina moans. "Enjoying yourself?" Brittany asks through a giggle.

"I's so 'ood" Santana mumbles, her mouth full of burger.

They finish eating quietly, both enjoying their meals. The cook comes by and drops a greasy bill in front of them. Brittany grabs it and smiles when she sees it's under $10 (another reason why she loves this place). Santana reaches in her own pocket to pull out money to pay, but Brittany quickly slaps her hand away.

"My treat! To celebrate you moving."

"But-"

"Buy me a drink tonight, and we'll call it even."

Santana doesn't bother protesting further and just slides off the stool, stretching her arms and legs. "God, I feel like I just ate my body weight." Brittany laughs and nods in agreement. "I'm gonna need a nap when we get back," Santana states as they head out of the diner, back to the apartment. Brittany nods again, instinctively yawning at the mention of a nap, suddenly realizing just how tired she is.

"Hey Britt?" Santana asks quietly after they have been walking for a little bit. Brittany looks down at her, acknowledging she is listening.

"Yeah?"

"Do you miss Kurt?" Santana asks shyly.

Brittany is confused by where Santana is coming from. She remembers their earlier conversation, where she went on for a while about how close she and Kurt are. She looks at Santana and wonders if Santana is worried or nervous, or even jealous. She decides to play dumb a little to figure out what Santana means.

"A little, but we're seeing him tonight!" She replies cheerily. Santana nods, but stays quiet for a little bit.

"You think-" Santana starts to say, but pauses. She then takes a deep breath before starting again. "Do you think he won't like me?" Brittany narrows her eyes in confusion. "Cause I like replaced him…or something?" Brittany immediately laughs, thinking Santana is being ridiculous, but not wanting to be mean about it.

"I think…"Brittany starts slowly, while Santana eyes her nervously. "You two will get along just fine." She finally finishes. "He'll love you cause you're sassy like him." Brittany smiles at her and Santana immediately relaxed.

They finally made it back to the apartment, both wiped out and exhausted, making their way to the couch, flopping down on top of it. They both looked over at each other and the same time said, through giggles, "Gilmore Girls time?"

/

At some point within the first few minutes of the episode Santana and Brittany ended up laying down on opposite ends of the couch, with Brittany's feet by Santana's head and vice versa. Within another few minutes Brittany was pulling the blanket that was draped over the back of the couch and placed it over both of their legs. Within another few minutes she was fast asleep, eyes heavy.

\

Brittany felt a slight, soft nudge on her leg and her name being whispered. She peeled her eyes open slowly, seeing Santana sitting up rubbing her leg slowly. The mixture of seeing Santana's hand and feeling the light squeezes through the blanket, she felt a flutter in her chest as her heartbeat quickened. "We fell asleep," Santana whispers groggily. Brittany is still distracted so she just nods. She's not sure why she's distracted, but something about the small strokes of Santana's hand that makes her feel something warm in her chest and stomach. "It's getting a little late and I figured we should start getting ready." Santana removes her hand and Brittany immediately misses it, but tries not to show anything. Santana stretches her arms over her head, her t-shirt rising a little bit in the process. Brittany quickly diverts her eyes, not even knowing why she looked anyway.

"Sounds good," Brittany finally says, her voice scratchy from sleep and sits up. Santana swings her legs off the couch and reaches her hand down to help Brittany up, which Brittany gladly accepts.

"You can shower first," Santana says as they head upstairs. "I still gotta set up my room a little." Brittany just nods, yawning again.

It's not until they get to the top of the stairs and go to part ways that she notices they haven't stopped holding hands since Santana helped her up off the couch. She can't help the huge smile that spreads across her face as she turns away from Santana and heads into the bathroom.

**Please review or message me and let me know your thoughts. I know it's slow, but I have next chapter planned out for their dinner and drinks adventure with Rachel and Kurt. Get to see some drunk Brittana and Rachel/Kurt!**


	4. Closer

**Author's Note: Woah, I'm so sorry this has taken so long! I'm currently in grad school and working full time and just got super busy. I will be updating this regularly, I promise! This semester is almost over! Anyways...this chapter might seem a bit of as a filler...but a lot of things happen with a hope to escalate the story just a smidge bit. Enjoy!  
**

_Here comes the breath before we get a little bit closer  
Here comes the rush before we touch, come a little closer_

_The night sky is changing overhead. _

**August 2011**

Brittany got out of her shower and was in her room getting ready while blasting Beyoncé's "Love on Top". She was quietly singing along in her skinny jeans and bra, looking for a top to wear. She finally decided on a simple black V-neck. She looked down at her chest to make sure her cleavage was under control. She then moved on to find earrings and other jewelry to go with her outfit. Brittany doesn't go out very often, so when she does it's pretty exciting.  
"Jeez, you really are a dancer," she heard a voice from behind her. She jumped up a little, but smiled when she saw Santana standing, leaning against her door frame.

"Was I dancing?" Brittany scrunched her face, confused.

"You were swaying a little bit," Santana chuckled. Brittany finally took in Santana's appearance. The Latina was wearing a casual, short, black dress and heels. Her black hair was down and flowed over her chest. She had very little make up on. Brittany realized that Santana was one of those people that had to put little effort into making herself look presentable. Meanwhile, for Brittany, at least in her mind, it took an entire army to get her to that level. When the song switched to an Usher song, Brittany remembered her staring had prevented her from staring.

"Oh, weird," she quickly responded, turning to her mirror to apply some lip-gloss. "I didn't even realize." She finished up and turned back around to Santana. "That's a really awesome dress," Brittany said, but in her head it went more like  
you look really beautiful.

"Thanks," Santana responded with a smile. "You look great." The flutters in Brittany's chest returned, and she was hoping she wasn't blushing. Brittany met her at the door and they began to walk downstairs, as Brittany grabbed her purse from the couch, swinging it over her shoulder. "So do you know much about the place we're going to?"

"Nope," Brittany shook her head. "Kurt is pretty notorious for finding new trendy places. This place will probably be full of hipsters." They grabbed their stuff, Santana taking a light jacket despite how warm it was out, and heading out the door.

/

After talking the entire way there and making little jokes and comments throughout the short subway ride they arrived at Brooklyn Tap House. The restaurant was fairly large and trendy on the inside. There was also a big outdoors area with multiple bars, and an area cleared out for dancing if people wanted. Brittany had received a text from Kurt that he would be in the back, outside, at a table, waiting for them. They made their way through the small crowd; Santana absently grabbed the inside of Brittany's arm to make sure she didn't get lost. Brittany looked down at the grip that Santana had on her arm and smirked a little bit.

Brittany spotted Kurt standing at a tall table across the dance floor and near the bar. Brittany immediately beamed, and waved at him, as she hurried over; Santana attached at her arm all the while. "Kurty!" Brittany squealed once they reached the table and she managed to break away from Santana, enveloping Kurt into a big hug. Kurt rolled his eyes a little bit at the nickname, but couldn't help himself from hugging back tightly. "I miss you," Brittany sighed a little bit, still hugging him. She then remembered her new, now left out, roommate and let go of Kurt and stood next to Santana with a proud smile on her face.

"I miss you too," Kurt frowned a little bit. "But look! Here we are still hanging out, as per usual," he quickly added to make Brittany feel better, and she smiled at his thoughtfulness.

"I know, I know," she sighed out. Brittany quickly smiled and resumed her mission to introduce Santana to Kurt. "Anyways," she dragged out. "Kurt I want you to meet the new and improved you," she added, causing both Kurt and Santana to roll their eyes at her. "Santana Lopez!" She flipped her hands over to present Santana formally. Santana laughed a little at the dramatics and extended her hand to Kurt.

"It's so nice to meet you," she said politely, shaking his hand. Kurt grinned at her and pulled her into a hug.

"Oh, please," he said after he let Santana go. "You're putting up with Britt and Rachel for me. We are officially friends." Santana laughed as Brittany scrunched up her face defensively.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Oh, you know," Kurt waved the comment off, while sliding two stools over to the table and returning to his stool at the table. Santana shrugged her jacket off and took a seat, while Brittany looked around at her surroundings, taking in the atmosphere a little bit. She loved bars that were outside. You could see the city landscape, enjoy fresh air, but also feel like you were just hanging out a bar. She sighed out contentedly, while leaning against the table, looking at a couple grinding on the dance floor to a Robyn song. She was right in her assumption that the bar would be full of hipsters, there was more flannel and beards then she could count.

"Britt?" She heard a voice next to her and realized she hadn't even sat down yet, as Santana was eyeing her and the stool questioningly. "Did you want to order some food?" Santana asked pointing to the menus that had mysteriously appeared on the table, while she was zoning out.

"Of course!" Brittany quickly sat down next to Santana, feeling a little embarrassed, but Santana just smiled at her.

"We have to make sure we order a salad for Rachel," Kurt sighed, as he opened his menu and browsed the options. Both Santana and Brittany nodded, agreeing.

"With bacon," they both dead panned at the same time. Their heads shot up to each other and they both broke out into a fit of laughter.

"Well," Kurt laughed. "I see you have already found common ground in teasing Rachel." Santana and Brittany were still laughing, but went back to looking at their respective menus.

"Poor Rachel doesn't even know yet," Brittany stated shaking her head, still smiling.

"She is an easy target," Santana shrugged, causing both Brittany and Kurt to nod their heads.

After a few moments of looking at their menus, they all were ready to order. Brittany and Santana went for burgers, Kurt decided on a small pasta dish, and a baconless salad for Rachel.

/

While they were waiting for their food and Rachel to arrive, the three chatted. Since Kurt and Santana both graduated from NYADA they discussed different courses they had, annoying professors, and compared notes on whether or not they had any mutual friends. They found they had more in common than they thought, and they started to ask if they had heard from certain people since graduation to see what they were up to.

Although Brittany could not add too much to the conversation, she was still happy to see the two talk and get to know each other. Kurt was one of her closest friends, and she really wanted Santana and him to get along. They had ordered a pitcher of beer to start off and she was just finishing glass number one as a loud squeal interrupted her peaceful thoughts. "I'm here!" A very loud Rachel Berry exclaimed from behind her, practically running into the table. Both Kurt and Santana looked up, looking just as surprised as Brittany.

"Relax, Rachel. You haven't missed anything," Kurt rolled his eyes and took a large drink of his beer.

"Did you order? Did you get me a salad like I had asked? No chicken or bacon bits right? I never understand why restaurants insist that all salads need to have some type of meat product in it. Santana, as you know I'm a vegetarian-"

"We know!" Brittany, Kurt, and, surprisingly, Santana cut her off simultaneously.

"We got you a salad," Brittany said pouring herself another beer from the pitcher, and pouring Rachel a glass as well. "Should be here any minute."

"Oh, I don't know if I want beer," Rachel said, scrunching her face at the glass Brittany slid in front of her.

"It's a beer garden," Brittany and Santana said at the same time, locking eyes with each other after and laughing again.

"Fine," Rachel sighed, and took a sip of her beer begrudgingly. Meanwhile, Santana refilled her beer and brought her glass up in the air.

"A toast," Santana said, causing the other three to raise their glasses as well. "To new friends!" Rachel and Kurt both smiled, and as the four glasses met in the middle Santana locked eyes with Brittany and winked at her.

Brittany couldn't help but notice she had stopped breathing when she released her breath to take a very large drink from her glass.

/

An hour later the group was now on pitcher number three, and Brittany had lost count of how many beers she had drank exactly. She was definitely feeling a bit tipsy though, but was very thankful that she was always a happy, giddy drunk. It seemed her three friends were all on the same page as her, as they were all giggling like idiots over some story Kurt was telling about a horrible blind date he went on last year with a guy who was balding and wore a toupee.

They had finished eating a little while ago, and were just enjoying the outdoor atmosphere and telling different embarrassing stories. "What about you Santana?" Kurt had asked, letting out a deep breath, and wiping some tears away from laughter. Brittany looked at Santana, but wasn't sure what she was answering because she had spaced out before Kurt had asked the question.

"Horrible dates?" Santana asked, taking another sip of her beer, and Kurt and Rachel nodded excitedly, waiting for another story. Brittany hadn't even asked Santana if she had a boyfriend yet, and so she suddenly became really interested in whatever Santana was going to say. "I haven't been on a date in years," Santana laughed a little bit, but avoided looking up from her glass. Brittany could tell that this topic made Santana a little uncomfortable. "I don't date much," Santana shrugged, and got quiet. Brittany looked at her curiously, wondering if the Latina had some type of bad experience in the past, but Santana clearly didn't want to elaborate as she looked over to the dance floor.

"Britt! Tell the story about that psycho you dated from NYU," Rachel exclaimed, hitting Brittany in the arm. Santana looked over at Brittany with a big expectant smile on her face.

"James, aka Momma's Boy, aka Douche Bag, aka LAX Bro?" Brittany asked, causing both Rachel and Kurt to laugh out loud.

"Oooh, now you have my interest!" Santana exclaimed putting her elbows on the table and her chin in her hands as she looked at Brittany. Brittany took another sip of her beer and went into an elaborate tale of her college boyfriend who got a little too controlling for her liking, and the breakup went terribly.

"-and then he sent me this like ten page email about how it was my fault we never had sex, because I was the one who didn't initiate anything," Brittany said after going through their whole relationship and breakup. "Meanwhile, if I may remind you, he was the one that took three months before even asking me out, and then another 2 weeks after we dated before he even kissed me! Like, what the fuck!" Brittany could tell she was getting heated, and decided to just leave the story there, as she thought it would be better to leave it at a funny part then have her get all angry and upset about her ex. Both Kurt and Rachel shook their heads, as they had lived the relationship with Brittany, and both were happy when it finally ended, as it was very unhealthy.

"That sounds terrible Britt," Santana laughed a little, and rubbed her arm sympathetically. "I'm sorry." Brittany just smiled at her and shrugged.

"Oh well," Brittany said, finishing off what was left of her beer, and went to pour another glass, finishing off the pitcher. She drank her beer quicker than she had intended, and she was definitely feeling the effects of the alcohol at this point and Kurt had ordered yet another pitcher.

"We should dance!" Rachel exclaimed extremely loudly, clearly buzzed as well. Normally, Brittany would roll her eyes and refuse, because she didn't always like to dance in bars. However, she was clearly drunk, because she shot up from the table and grabbed Santana, pulling her to the dance floor with Kurt and Rachel.

/

They had been on the dance floor for a few songs, dancing in a group circle, and being silly for the most part. Kurt and Rachel got out of breath after jumping up and down to a Miley Cyrus song, and decided to head back to the table. It was just Santana and Brittany now, and because the alcohol was coursing through her veins, Brittany had lost all inhibitions and started dancing closer to Santana. Brittany wasn't sure what song was playing, but just let the steady beat of the song move her hips. Santana had clearly had dance classes before, because she was a great dancer. Part of the reason Brittany hated dancing at bars when she was sober, was because not a lot of people could keep up with her, and it would get a little sloppy. Brittany was by no means a perfectionist, but it was always frustrating when she would want to dance, and people kept stepping on her feet clumsily. However, Santana was not having any problems keeping up with the song, and with Brittany.

Brittany knew she was drunk, by the fact that she did not really care about her surroundings, and she had very few issues with the fact that she was so close to Santana. For the life of her, though, she could not remember how many beers Santana had drank. She looked up at Santana and her eyes were closed as she was losing herself in the beat of the song, her face getting a little sweaty from how crowded the dance floor had gotten, and how humid it was outside. Brittany couldn't tell if Santana was drunk too, but she quickly forgot all of her thoughts when Santana had put her arm around Brittany's neck and pulled her closer. "You're so good at this," Santana whispered loudly over the music into Brittany's ear. _Yup, definitely drunk, _Brittany thought, with a little smile to herself.

"You too," Brittany whispered back. Not knowing what else to do with her hands, Brittany put them on Santana's waist, causing Santana to lean even further into Brittany. Despite being drunk, Brittany senses were on overload as all she could do was breathe in Santana's scent and feel Santana's fingers caressing her shoulder slightly.

Brittany had danced with other girls before, but usually it was in a silly way, or to get guys' attentions during college. There was something that felt very different about this, but Brittany didn't have the capacity to question it at the time. Instead she pulled Santana even closer to her by her hips. Brittany then began to grind a little bit into Santana's legs, as Santana wrapped both of arms around Brittany's neck, eyes still closed, moving to the beat of the music. Brittany slid down a little bit, then made her way back up, moving her arms up and down Santana's back.

"Your ex was an idiot," Santana breathed into Brittany's ear. "You're awesome." Santana was leaning a bit more on Brittany at this point, but her breathing into Brittany's ear was causing the blonde to shiver a little bit, despite the heat.

"So was yours," Brittany responded.

"I didn't tell you about mine," Santana giggled a little bit, the two still holding each other closely.

"Well, I'm sure he was the worst," Brittany said. The song switched to another fast pace song, and Santana started moving her hips into Brittany's again, rubbing her shoulders a little bit. Santana pulled her head back a little bit, looking into Brittany's eyes.

"There is no ex," Santana said. Brittany was still moving to the beat, but looked at Santana with a confused expression. Brittany wasn't sure what her face was doing, but it caused Santana to giggle a little bit. "I told you…" she said leaning back to Brittany's face and moved right to her ear. "I didn't really date." Brittany pulled her head back and looked at Santana.

"Ever?" Brittany exclaimed a little more shocked than she had intended. Santana just shrugged and went back to dancing. She turned in Brittany's arms, her back now facing the blonde, grinding her butt into Brittany's front a little bit.

Santana turned her head slightly to face Brittany, "Ever," she stated, and went back to grinding her butt into Brittany. The blonde instinctively wrapped her arm around Santana's front, not wanting to move too far away. When the Latina stood up a little bit straighter, Brittany pulled her impossibly closer, leaning over Santana's shoulder.

"But you're hot," Brittany unintentionally whispered out loud before she could stop herself. Brittany's eyes widened and she pulled back a little bit, her face flushing even more than it had been. Santana grabbed Brittany's arms that were around her stomach and held them there, not letting her move away. She looked over her shoulder at the embarrassed blonde and smirked at her.

"Why thank you, roomie," she giggled and turned back around in Brittany's arms. She put her arms around Brittany's neck and the two stared at each other for a few seconds. Brittany's heart was racing, but she wasn't sure why, and she wasn't sure why she made that comment, and she definitely wasn't sure what this feeling in the pit of her stomach was, or why she danced with Santana so closely. Santana just smiled at her, with an unreadable expression on her face. "Another beer?" Santana asked pulling away from Brittany and nodding her head back over to the table, already heading in that direction. Brittany quickly nodded yes and followed Santana, unsure of what had just happened.

/

The next morning Brittany woke up to the sound of birds chirping outside of her window, the morning sun heating up her small bedroom quickly. Her eyes were still closed, and she was lying on her side facing her window. She didn't want to open her eyes, because she already knew the room would spin, and the nauseous feeling in her stomach would not be okay with that at this point. Instead she just kept her eyes tightly closed, hoping the feeling of the room spinning would go away with more sleep.

As she tried to nuzzle further back into her pillow she felt two things that she didn't notice when she first woke up.

Breath hitting the back of her neck.

An arm wrapped around her waist tightly.

Brittany's eyes shot open and she stared at the window in a panic. _What happened last night?_ She quickly recounted all she could remember from the night before. Everything after the dance floor with Santana was a blur. They finished another two pitchers. She remembers Kurt ordering shots of jaeger. She did a tequila shot with Santana. Rachel hooked up with some tall guy. There was a cab ride home that involved singing along to Beyoncé. _I didn't hook up with anyone…then who is in my bed._

Brittany quietly lifted up the covers to look at the arm around her waist. She saw a skinny, delicate, tan hand, and suddenly her heart was beating even faster, if possible. She knew exactly whose arm that belonged to. She gently rolled over, keeping the Latina's arm on her waist and when she rolled over she saw her new roommate, peacefully asleep, cuddled close to her.

She kept Santana's arm around her waist, and smiled at the fact that Santana was sharing her pillow. She tried to remember what happened after the cab, and when they got back to their apartment, but she couldn't remember for the life of her, and before she could overthink it the room started to spin again and her stomach turned from nausea. She got comfortable on the little amount of space of her pillow that Santana had left and closed her eyes, quickly falling back asleep. Forgetting the 5000 questions that have been racing through her mind, and decided to ignore them, and just enjoy a friendly cuddle.

**Let me know what you think and if there is anything in particular you would like!**

**Song: Closer by Tegan and Sara**


End file.
